Saturday, August 30, 2008

Tomato Time

Here at Erin's Kitchen, I can't get enough late summer tomatoes. I knew I was over the edge when I paid a whopping $4 for one heirloom tomato--it was actually mealy and not particularly sweet, so that cooled my tomato fervor--or at least made me a more discerning farmer's market shopper.

It's hard to beat a simple salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, and I served Suzanne Goin's version at a dinner party last night--she studs hers with crisp, rustic croutons and tops it with an oregeno-scented vinaigrette. Another favorite is pictured above--tomato wedges tossed with salt, pepper, basil and plenty of fresh sweet corn.

Finally, Mark Bittman's super-simple tomato jam provides a nice transition from summer to (gulp) fall. I'll smear some of this deep crimson, cinnamon and clove flavored concoction (with a hint of heat) on some crusty bread tomorrow and pack it in my lunch for the first day of school.

7 comments:

I love Mark Bittman! I didn't pack any cookbooks, and I'm desperately missing him. I figured I'd be able to look up everything on the internet, but it's not the same! Definitely bringing it back with me after Christmas.

We've gotten pretty decent tomatoes down here- not sure where they're from though! Definitely not as good as the ones you're probably getting though.

I know it is killer to spend so much on a tomato and it is not so good. If it was that purple one I have to tell you I grew that one this year and only got 2 off of if. the first one was on too long and it was mushy and not good the other one I had to steal away from the squaral and it was GREAT it was like watermelon so if you are talking purple get em while they are greenish mmmmmm

Thank you very much for sharing. Through your blog, a lot of people including me of course have a chance to read and learn from. I have read some of your post and I really enjoyed reading it. And if you want to learn chinese,please visit athttp://www.chinesepal.cn/first/learn-chinese/index.htmThanks again and looking forward for more of your posting soon!